Firebugs
by Lekta
Summary: When two occupants aboard the Serenity can't sleep they find comfort in each other's company.Not a romance. R


**FIREBUGS**

**Author's Notes: Yeah I've been in a Firefly mood so I decided to write a one-shot. This isn't an implied River/Mal it's just supposed to show the relationship between the captain and the youngest member of his crew. It's my first Firefly fanfiction and I made her sound child-like and a lot like Drusilla. I know she's not supposed to be that crazy but I'm new at this so forgive me.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Firefly or any of it's characters they belong to Joss Whedon.**

Mal Reynolds tossed for the third time that night. Which didn't make much sense because he had had a good day. Jayne had spent the whole day polishing his guns and had stayed out of his way, he had just made 200,000 credits and there were minor injuries. Apart from River's temper tantrum when Simon had tried to get her to bed, there were no unexpected surprises. Tossing for the fourth time that night, Mal pulled on his pants and his shirt and left his quarters, headed for the dining hall. The whole room was pitch black when Mal entered it, flicking on the light switch.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Mal screamed, noticing the small figure sitting at the table, with her knees drawn up to her chest.

"Geez River, ya scared me," Mal held a hand to his beating heart as he made his way over to the coffee pot, intent on fixing himself a cup.

"Sorry. Simon told me to stay in my cell but I left." River responded making swirls in the table with invisible ink.

"It's okay to be in here River. Your brother's just a mite overprotective of ya." Mal responded taking a sip off his coffee taking a seat at the table.

"Just a mite," River said copying his accent. He smiled amusedly at her.

"Don't tell Simon, he'll put me back in the cell, put me back to sleep." River eyes suddenly widened and she stopped drawing circles.

"It's okay sweetheart I won't tell Simon," Mal hurriedly assured her trying to stop the oncoming tantrum. Her eyes dulled a bit and she absent-mindedly drew the swirls again.

"Couldn't sleep?" Mal asked her, breaking the quiet of the night.

"Firebugs danced in front of my eyes, flashes of bright light hid in the darkness of the nightmares. Did firebugs dance in front of your eyes too?" River asked with childlike innocence.

"Yeah I guess you could say that. The goddamn _gorram_ firebugs." Mal responded, humoring River.

"Oh no! Firebugs don't mean to cause trouble keeps away the shadows. Shadows hide in the light breaking petals off of flowers and bringing light back into the crevices off my mind that melts when it bleeds." River told him sagely. Mal looked at her confused.

"Uh-huh."

"Don't worry time won't catch up, not yet and not for a long time." River patted Mal's hand comfortingly.

"Well that's good ta know," Mal answered. River smiled at him, "it's irrelevant."

"What is?"

"The bullet in Serenity's stomach. Won't stop her, she'll continue to grow." River's eyes lit up at the mention of Serenity.

"I knew that from the moment I laid eyes on her."

"She talks to me sometimes, she likes you. You remind her of the other one, she liked him too. He died in her and she cried for him. She wants you to be careful, doesn't want you to die inside of her."

"A captain always goes down with his ship. Been that way forever." Mal took another sip.

"Not always, a time when serenity was lost." River's eyes scrunched up. Mal's breath caught in his throat.

"What?"

"I don't know. I never know. Things come out of my mouth and I don't know why," River's eyes filled with tears and her face scrunched up.

"Hey it's okay honey. I didn't mean to upset ya none." Mal tried to placate her tears.

"Always upset, never happy, leaves fall from make-believe trees showering broken worlds with hymns and songs," River's tears fell on the table.

"River stop crying." Mal told her, handing her a towel. River stared at her tears even as they dried up.

"There now, no more tears darlin'" Mal said to her. River nodded, "tears are useless."

"Well I don't think they are exactly useless. Sometimes tears are good, why don't you go up to bed? I'll tuck you in." Mal told her. River's eyes clouded over in anger.

"I'm not a child! No bedtime stories anymore." River glared at Mal.

"Okay okay, no need to get defensive." Mal held up his hands in surrender. River averted her eyes from his own and continued to stare at the table. Mal scrubbed his face and got up, grabbing an apple out of a box and a knife to cut it with. He returned to the table using the knife to cut into the golden fruit. Mal noticed River staring at his hands and the apple, he sliced it in half and handed her the other half.

"Thank you," she said, nibbling on the apple. Mal nodded and bit into his own half.

"Mother used to make pies made of apples. I remember them, they were yellow like these but they didn't taste as good. Me and Simon would sneak pieces before dinner and when everyone was sleeping we would hide in the branches of the apple tree and look out at the stars." River's voice seemed dreamy and far-away and Mal found himself smiling.

"I understood you that time," Mal told her. River smiled, "me too. I understood myself."

"I'm glad. You must be getting better; the medication your brother's given you must be working." Mal said. River nodded, "or could be I found serenity." Mal nodded, "Serenity'll do that to ya. Change the way you look at things." He was met by silence.

"Simon's a tight ass," River said simply. Mal laughed, "that he is." River yawned loudly not bothering to cover her mouth.

"That was a big yawn, you tired yet?" Mal asked her. She nodded rubbing her eyes as she stood up.

"Thank you for helping me find River and for the apple," River told Mal, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled, "good night River."

"Good night captain," she responded, walking out of the dining hall. Mal smiled as he took a sip of his coffee. Today hadn't been such a bad day after all.

**A/N Well that's the end, it's random and doesn't make any sense at all but I like it. Please read and review. No flames please. And if you guys can't tell when River's talking about her "cell" it's actually her room but since Simon puts her in there a lot she feels it more of a confinement than a sanctuary. R&R**


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